And Then We Fell Apart
by violet-phoenix-rose
Summary: TMI/THG/HP crossover. Some things are a lot easier said than done... things like surviving the Games, dealing with the rebellion, and keeping the people you care about from doing anything stupid. Centers around Isabelle Lightwood. Rating for language.


**A/N:** I haven't written fanfic in a very long time so please bear with the fact that this might not make any sense. This is (obviously) a crossover involving Harry Potter, The Mortal Instruments, and The Hunger Games. Most of the details come from THG-world. Characters belong to their respective authors. Some backstories have been modified for the sake of this thing making sense; however, I'm trying to only change what I have to. Original characters are mine. Plot idea comes from a lot of mucking around on the Internet and an excellent THG/HP crossover which I cannot remember the name of. Stay tuned!

_**Isabelle Lightwood:**_

The Reaping. Every year I dreaded it, and this year seemed like it would be the worst of them all. I knew it would be an honor if I was chosen, and I'd prepared for that possibility. We'd all prepared. Okay, my parents hadn't wasted their time on training Max, but my older brothers and I, the ones who were eligible this year, were ready. At least… I hoped we were ready. I'd had nightmares for weeks about what would happen if Alec's name were called. It would not be pretty. I loved him to death – he _was_ my older brother, after all – but I knew that if he were chosen, he wouldn't come back. It was not a possibility I was ready to accept. I loved being the only girl amongst three boys, and I damn well didn't want the brother count to drop to two.

As always, I put on my prettiest dress, made just for the occasion. This year, it was crimson, designed to make me look beautiful. My mother and I had worked on it for weeks. We could afford purchased things, but this was special-occasion clothes and we wanted specifics. Well… she did, anyways. I didn't care so much. I could look good in anything and I knew it. That was the thing about being the only girl of the family. I didn't have sisters to compete with, just three brothers who would hurt anyone who messed with me. Okay, Max wouldn't hurt anyone, but he was _nine_. Even we would have trouble with a violent nine-year-old. Come to think of it, Alec probably wouldn't hurt anyone either, not unless Max or Jace or I was on the verge of death. That scenario was an exception to absolutely everything. At least I could count on Jace being all crazy-older-brother if some idiot messed with me. One of us had to have those tendencies, and it sorta figured that it would be the one who wasn't officially part of the family. Though he wasn't related to us by blood, he was as much my brother as the other two and I adored it.

An hour later, we made it to the town square. Our district, District Two, was the second District to select Tributes each year. They did it in order so that people in the Capitol could watch all of it, and I hated whomever had that idea. For us, the Reaping was at eight-thirty in the morning, horridly early by anyone's standards. I was not excited. Being grouped together with about a hundred other girls my age was no fun at all, especially given the looks they gave me. It was like they all knew who I was and what I was capable of and how bad it would be for them if they were stupid enough to cross me. I didn't think any of them were that stupid, but I'd learned not to underestimate people. I could barely spot my family members, scattered across the square – Alec with the other eighteen-year-old boys, Jace with the other seventeen-year-old boys, and my parents and Max on the edges, watching. At least I _could_ see all of them. This could be so much worse, I reminded myself. With any luck, we'd all be safe and we'd go home in half an hour and everything would be fine. I could hope, anyways.

After some Capitol official read the obligatory stuff about the purpose of the Games and what an honor it was – no one actually cared because we'd had more Victors than any of the other Districts – it was time for the names to be called. As always, they would choose the girl first. I felt a visible wave of tension sweep through my section. All of us were terrified – everyone but me. There wasn't really a 'type' that got chosen each year, but if there was to be a 'type', I would not be it. I was taller, prettier, and simply more than the other girls. That's what I thought, at least.

"Isabelle Lightwood."

All at once, my mood slipped from elation to panic. Me? What the _hell_? Someone pushes me towards the platform, and I walk up, still not sure what to think. This should not be happening. From here, I can see my parents and brothers perfectly. I wonder what they're thinking right now. Max is clearly freaking out, but the rest of them look calm. Maybe they're saving their overreacting for later. Yeah, that would be just like them.

Now it's time for the boy to be selected. I have a bad feeling about this, and my bad feeling is confirmed when a certain blonde boy joins me on the platform. This time there's different panic to watch. My parents are now reacting, and even Alec seems a bit terrified by the fact that the only two people who put up with him are being sent off to die. There's another person I notice too, a girl standing with the fifteen-year-olds, a pretty redhead. I've never seen her before, but going by the way she's acting right now, she knows Jace. I make a mental note to ask him who she is, because if he's gone and gotten a girlfriend and not told the rest of us, I am going to be a whole different kind of mad.

There's some more talking and no one else seems to notice that the two kids who've been chosen are practically siblings. That strikes me as odd. Most people get that, but I guess the local officials don't, and I know that our escort has no idea what the hell is going on. I empathize with her a lot more than I'm ever going to admit. She might think she's seen everything, but she hasn't seen anything yet.

After that, Jace and I are herded into a holding area – I'm not keeping track of buildings or anything at this point – where we are each led to a separate room. The "last goodbye" is an iconic part of being chosen as a Tribute, and for some reason my parents and Max choose to say goodbye to me first. Well… they don't actually say anything. My mother is crying for the first time in her life, and Dad's about to cry as well. Max says he loves me and gives me a drawing he made recently of our family, all of us together. That'll be the last drawing he makes that has all six of us in it, instead of five or – heaven forbid – four of us. I give all of them crushing hugs, even though I'm not affectionate, and then they exit.

Alec comes next and tries to give me advice. I get him to shut up, telling him that Jace will come up with some sort of strategy, or maybe our mentors will. I do not plan on having any sort of strategy, but I don't tell Alec that because he's worried-looking enough as it is and I don't want to take responsibility for giving him a full-on nervous breakdown. That's Jace's job, not mine.

Next comes the red-haired girl I spotted earlier, the one I don't know but feel like I _should_ know. "I'm Clary," she says as she walks in. "I don't really know you, but…"

"Let me guess – you're dating my brother, or sneaking around with him, or have some sort of crush on him." I know her type, at least.

"It's a combination of the first and the second," she says, staring at me with an intensity that a fifteen-year-old should not be capable of. "Look… I don't really know you, but… good luck."

It's definitely not what I want to hear, but I'm not mad at her. Jace is going to get hurt when I get my claws on him, but this 'Clary' creature… she's okay. If my idiot brother had to have a secret girlfriend, let's just say he could do worse.

"I'll do what I can," I tell her. Even she's an emotional trainwreck. I'm calm and collected, but everyone else has been all sorts of panicked. "If it means giving myself up so he's got a better chance, I'll do it. He's my brother. I'd do anything for him."

"That's not what I was going to ask you for, but… thanks." With that, she leaves, not even giving me the chance to counter what she's just said. Why I thought my brother might be into someone _normal_, I'll never know, but I'm smart enough to know he'll do anything in the world for that little redhead. That's what worries me. The last thing Jace needs is a challenge, and winning the Games to get back to some strange girl who's got his attention is within the realm of things he'd consider. We are all screwed.

I'm left alone for a bit, and then the escort comes and fetches me. "Right this way," she says, dragging me out of the building and onto a train. It figures that the last glimpse of home I see – the last glimpse of home I'll _ever_ see, as far as I know – features the redheaded girl. Clary, I remind myself. I've known the kid for twenty minutes, I'll never see her again, and she's ruined my life. This isn't going to end well.


End file.
